At least one Harris twin is headed to the final four

Steve Ruark/Capital Gazette

Navy freshman Kayla Harris has seen significant playing time in all 22 games and made 14 starts, putting up impressive numbers in all categories. The 5-foot-8 Arnold resident has totaled 25 points , collected 37 draw controls and gobbled up 30 ground balls.

Navy freshman Kayla Harris has seen significant playing time in all 22 games and made 14 starts, putting up impressive numbers in all categories. The 5-foot-8 Arnold resident has totaled 25 points , collected 37 draw controls and gobbled up 30 ground balls. (Steve Ruark/Capital Gazette)

If someone had placed odds at the beginning of the season on which of the Harris twins would reach the women's lacrosse final four, most of the money would have been on Brianna.

That's because Brianna Harris is a freshman standout at Florida, which reached the semifinals in 2012 and has made a total of four quarterfinal appearances. Meanwhile, Kayla Harris is a plebe at the Naval Academy, which had never advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Lo and behold, it is Navy, not Florida, that is headed to Foxborough for the final four this weekend and Kayla Harris is a big reason why. The Broadneck graduate is enjoying a terrific freshman season as a key figure in the midfield for the Midshipmen.

"Kayla brings a great spirit and incredible desire. She's a fierce competitor and brings a lot of speed and intensity every time she steps on the field," Navy head coach Cindy Timchal said. "She's really had a wonderful freshman year. She gets stronger and better with every practice, every game."

Harris has seen significant playing time in all 22 games and made 14 starts, putting up impressive numbers in all categories. The 5-foot-8 Arnold resident has totaled 25 points (17 goals, 8 assists), collected 37 draw controls, gobbled up 30 ground balls and been credited with 10 caused turnovers.

"Kayla adds a lot of athleticism to the midfield. She really does everything. We have her as a wing player on draws, she gets back and plays tough defense, she scores goals," Timchal said. "I think the neat thing about Kayla, you tell her what to do and she does it. It doesn't matter what needs to be done. She really brings it all the time."

Harris has already earned a reputation as a player that does the dirty work in the middle of the field. She would rather fight for a loose ball than score a goal and is an important part of the clearing game.

"I see myself as a hustle player. I like to do the little things to help my teammates," Harris said. "My role is not to be the leading scorer, but when the time is right and the opportunities present themselves, I will pop in a few goals."

Harris flashed her scoring ability in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when she exploded for a career-high four goals in a 23-11 rout of Massachusetts. Getting open on well-timed cuts and finishing feeds with hard, accurate shots, Harris had a hat trick in the span of 44 seconds to help the Mids break the game open.

Harris had a big hand in last Saturday's shocking 16-14 upset of second-seeded North Carolina, scoring a goal on her only shot and snagging three grounders. Timchal is still talking about the amazing move Harris made to avoid a triple-team in the waning minutes when Navy really needed to maintain possession.

Three Tar Heels were closing on Harris when Timchal called a timeout. That meant the freshman midfielder was surrounded on the restart, but she somehow escaped by faking right then quickly changing directions and going left.

"Honestly, her athleticism is one-of-a-kind. It's so awesome having Kayla because she can run all day, play defense and offense, get ground balls… just do it all," junior standout Jenna Collins said of her midfield running mate. "We're really expecting big things from Kayla going forward."

Naturally, Timchal recruited both Brianna and Kayla Harris, hoping to land a package deal just like she did with the Collins twins. Kayla committed the summer between her sophomore and junior years, choosing Navy over several other schools.

"It took me a long time to commit to Navy because I was scared of the whole thing. I didn't know if that is what I really wanted," she said. "My dad told me to flip a coin between my top two schools and, when it's in the air, think about which side I wanted it to land on. He told me I would have a gut feeling. I did that and it was Navy every time so I knew I had to pull the trigger."

Kayla's father is Rob Harris, head football coach at Broadneck High. He and wife Sarah supported the identical twins through the recruiting process, which ended the following fall when Brianna picked Florida. Kayla remembers that her sister committed on Oct. 13, 2015 because it was the same day she tore an anterior cruciate ligament while playing soccer.

"Bri was really close to coming here," Kayla said. "At first, I was not really wanting her to come to the academy with me. Now that I'm here and watching Jenna and Julia, I wish every day that Bri was here with me. It's different not being on the field fighting side-by-side with her."

It's been a strange spring for the Harris twins, who have played lacrosse apart for the first time in their lives. Kayla clicked on the live link to watch Florida games on the computer every chance she got, catching the Maryland, North Carolina and Syracuse games among others.

Rob Harris was a conflicted mess on Sunday, May 14 — watching the Navy-UMass game from the stands at Penn Park in Philadelphia while simultaneously viewing the USC-Florida game on his phone.

At halftime, Harris was incredulous as he told a reporter that "Florida is going to lose!" His mood brightened considerably early in the second half when Kayla went on her scoring spree. Sarah Harris had traveled to Jacksonville to support Brianna, who scored a goal during the third-seeded Gators' upset loss at the hands of Southern California.

This past Saturday, Brianna Harris was in Chapel Hill to see her sister and Navy knock off the defending national champions.

"Having Brianna come to the game on Saturday was probably my best experience of the season. Looking over and seeing her cheering was so uplifting. She was the loudest one in the stands," Kayla Harris said. "Bri told me on Saturday that seeing me out on the field helping Navy beat North Carolina was the best day of her life. She has always been so supportive of me."

Kayla Harris has absolutely no regrets about choosing the Naval Academy and is excited about playing Boston College in the NCAA semifinals on Friday night at Gillette Stadium. The Midshipmen have pulled a series of upsets to get this far, beginning with beating top-seeded Loyola in the Patriot League Tournament championship.

"It really shows the type of team we are, very mentally tough and determined," Harris said of the final four run. "I've had a really fun, fun season. I love the way the coaching staff has worked with every single girl who reaches out for help. Our coaches just care so much and have helped me develop into the player I want to be."

Prior to practice on Monday afternoon, Harris watched her classmates scale the Herndon Monument and replace the dixie-cup cap of a plebe with a combination cover.

"There have been some bumps and bruises along the way, but I made it through," she said. "I think lacrosse is a major reason why I'm as happy as I am here at the academy. Herndon was today so I made it through plebe year."